


peach tea

by thirteenpaperstars



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Adorkable kids being adorkable, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst if you look really hard, F/M, Fluff, I don't even know why I rated this T, Mild Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, Rayla needs 2 sleep, Rayllum, Tea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-12 11:52:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18446009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thirteenpaperstars/pseuds/thirteenpaperstars
Summary: “We’re just friends,” Rayla would tell Runaan whenever he gave her a questioning look.“We’re just friends,” Callum assured his younger brother when he asked about why he was hanging out with a girl.We’re just friends, Rayla tried to convince herself when she heard Callum was going out with Claudia.





	peach tea

**Author's Note:**

> This is my work for Day 3 of Rayllum Week, but I enjoyed writing it so much that I'm going to post it separately, because it's possible I'll add on. It's my first time writing an AU, so I hope I did an acceptable job. For the purposes of the fic, I’ve left the idea of magic in, but I’m imagining them all as humans. It's super fun to imagine them being their adorkable (forever my favorite to describe them) selves in this setting. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!

The door to Callum’s dorm flew open with a bang, revealing a slender girl with pearly silver hair behind it. Callum leaned over his bunk bed’s edge.

“Hey, Rayla,” he greeted her. She scowled and stalked across the room, falling face-first into one of Callum’s bean bag chairs.

“Mmmmhhmmmmm,” she moaned. Callum swung down from the top bunk and joined her.

“What’s wrong this time?”

“I got a C+ on my Xadian Sciences final,” she groaned into the fabric.

“Then maybe you should have studied instead of playing video games with me.”

“And who was the one who said _you’ve studied enough, Rayla, you’ll be fine, come check out my new game system?_ ” she mocked in a sing-song voice.

“I _did not_ sound like that,” he defended.

“Suuuurrreee you didn’t. Anyway. What are we watching tonight?”

“Actually, I haven’t decided yet. Want to pick?” he asked, gesturing at the stack of DVDs beside his second-hand television set. Rayla crawled over and pulled out a disc from the pile at random.

“Okay, terrible movie number twenty-six, let’s go,” she muttered, sliding it into the DVD player and joining Callum on the couch.

 

~~~~

**_four months prior_ **

 

Callum was lonely. He hated admitting it, but he was lonely. Sure, having his own dorm room was great and all, but he was missing out on the _lifelong friendships_ every college brochure seemed to promise him. Callum took a deep breath in preparation before walking into Advanced Magic Studies. He’d fought long and hard to be able to take the advanced course, but seeing the juniors and seniors walk in without a care in the world made him begin to rethink his decision. Part of him was excited, while the other half was absolutely _terrified._ He pushed open the double doors before he could talk himself out of it. Rows of seats were quickly filling up with students, many of them chattering to their friends. Callum felt another pang of loneliness hit him. _Get yourself together,_ he told himself. Walking down the aisle he chose a seat in the middle of the room. Dropping his backpack and taking in his surroundings, Callum couldn’t help but notice the girl sitting next to him. She stood out against the mundane classroom, with silver hair so light it was almost white, and violet eyes that were glazed over and currently staring into the blank space above the clock. She looked younger than the rest of the students. _She couldn’t be a freshman too, could she?_

“Hello?” he asked tentatively. _Might as well get to know her, if I’m going to sit here all year,_ he reasoned. She jolted out of her daydream.

“Hey,” she said simply, giving him a quick smile and opening her backpack to produce a thick binder. She paused for a moment and gave him a sideways glance.

“You’re, a-”

“Yes, I’m a freshman,” he cut her off with, defensiveness edging his words. _Oh, good going Callum, say something rude the first time she opens her mouth. No wonder you don’t have any friends._

“No- no, not that, I was going to say that you’re..you’re sitting in gum,” she replied, suppressing a laugh. Callum looked down and immediately flushed. As there weren’t many empty seats, he hurried to take care of the problem with a disgusted expression. For the rest of the lecture, he refused to meet her eye.

 

When the loud electronic bell pronounced them free from class, Callum rushed to the exit, in hopes of avoiding another awkward encounter. Such luck seemed to abandon him, as she caught up with him in a matter of minutes.

“Did you say you were a freshman, too?” she asked, holding the door open for him as they exited the building.

“Yeah. I didn’t want to take Mechanical Magic like everyone else- Magic Studies is so much better,” he responded. The girl nodded in approval and stuck out her hand.

“I’m Rayla.”

On one sunny afternoon after class, Callum left complaining to Rayla about the laborious workload they’d received from their professor.

“How do they expect us to hand in this essay by Thursday?” he bemoaned. She nodded sympathetically.

“And it’s not like I even understand half of this stuff!” he continued. Rayla shushed him.

“Hold still,” she said, producing a gel pen from her pocket. Taking his hand, she scribbled her phone number down.

“Call me if you need help,” she instructed him, waving goodbye and taking off across the lawn.

 

Their phone calls started out innocent- the occasional question about an assignment- until she started talking to him more and more. Callum didn’t quite know how it happened, but she eventually ended up visiting his dorm almost every day. Sometimes they sat in silence and studied, while other times they headed over to the campus coffee shop and just talked. He didn’t mind the company- he was no longer lonely, and was even able to meet some people that Rayla introduced him to. As they grew more comfortable around each other, questions about their relationship became common. If either of them were asked, they’d say they were only friends, though this answer frequently earned them second glances and raised eyebrows in return.

“We’re just friends,” Rayla would tell Runaan whenever he gave her a questioning look.

“We’re just friends,” Callum assured his younger brother when he asked about why he was hanging out _with a girl._

_We’re just friends,_ Rayla tried to convince herself when she heard Callum was going out with Claudia.

 

Their time together dwindled. Callum always giving her some kind of excuse, whether it be homework, classes, or, more commonly, Claudia. Several times throughout the day, Rayla would mentally kick herself, especially when she saw _them_ around campus. Once, she saw them holding hands in the corridor, to which she sharply spun around and retreated in the opposite direction. _It’s not like I like him,_ Rayla’s mind offered weakly. _He deserves to be happy._

 

Rayla was jolted from her otherwise peaceful sleep to the sound of her phone buzzing. She’d fell asleep at some unreasonable hour of the night watching YouTube, her earbuds still tucked in. She picked up the phone. _Callum_ glared up at her from the caller ID screen. She groaned and pressed _acceptl,_ holding the phone to her ear and closing her eyes again.

“I’ll be there in five minutes,” his voice said.

Rayla turned over in her bed, more than half asleep.

“Whaaa?” she mumbled incoherently, only to hear a click and a dial tone. She checked the clock. _5:21 A.M._ Grumbling, she struggled into a jacket and shoes, not even caring enough to change out of her pajamas. Leaving her roommate to wonder where she’d gone, Rayla left her dorm and waited in the hall. Callum arrived moments later, whisking her away to the coffee shop in silence. Rayla fell asleep again in the backseat of his car, only awakening when it came to a stop. Callum went to the counter of the empty shop and ordered their usual, Rayla’s peach tea and his Chai latte with extra whip cream. After paying for the drinks, he passed her the cups and sank into their favorite table overlooking the campus bookstore.

“Sooo...why did you drag me all the way here?” she asked, rubbing her eyes and warming her hands on the cardboard cup. Curse Callum and his morning person-ness.

“You need caffeine. You’ve looked like a zombie al week,” he shrugged, earning himself a glare. “And,” he added, “I broke up with Claudia.” Now fully awake, Rayla felt her heart soar, then crash to the ground.

“Ah,” she stuttered, feeling the need to restart her brain several times. “Are you...are you okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. She...she, uh, well,” he responded, looking nervous. “We both knew it was coming. She’s always talking about her Mechanical Magic class. How great it is, how I should change my schedule to be with her. But…Rayla- it’s horrible.It’s really just Dark Magic.” Callum shuddered. Rayla took his hand from across the table.

“It’s okay, though. I knew this would happen,” he said, giving her a genuine smile. Rayla remained skeptical, but let out a deep breath.

“Anyway,” he continued, a new lilt in his voice, “That’s in the past now. I was actually, um, wondering if you wanted to come over to my dorm tonight? I have a bunch of bad movies to watch.” Rayla suddenly became very aware that she was still holding his hand across the table, and she immediately let it go, knocking her cup over in the process. Red-hot tea spilled everywhere, soaking her clothes and hair. Fortunately, not a drop landed on Callum, she noticed, and he rushed to grab napkins from the counter.

“I’m a disaster,” Rayla admitted sheepishly, as he helped her sop up the remains of the drink.

“You’re perfect,” he said, unthinkingly. He leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the forehead. Brain catching up to the moment, he realized in a terrible flash what he had just done. The pair froze, staring at each other with twin blushes blossoming on their faces. Callum squeezed her hand, breaking the awkward moment. He swooped past her to grab his backpack.

“I’ll see you at eight!” he announced, flying out of the shop in a breeze.

Rayla deposited the napkins in the trash can, her head spinning. She was going to need _a lot_ of time to process this.

 

~~~~

 

**_present_ **

 

She fell asleep halfway through terrible movie twenty-six, curled up against him. Callum took one look at her, and his heart melted. She looked so peaceful. He paused the movie and set down the popcorn bowl they had been sharing. Making sure not to wake her, he got up off the couch and grabbed the comforter off his bed. Tucking it in around them, Callum laid down next to her. Rayla opened her eyes halfway.

“Is the movie over?” she asked.

“We’ll finish it tomorrow.”

“Good,” she sighed, letting him wrap an arm around her.

“Sweet dreams,” he whispered, pressing a gentle kiss to her hair.

**Author's Note:**

> Early morning Starbucks runs~ I kind of love that for Rayllum? Hope that's not just me.
> 
> Tell me what you think about a sequel below! I love hearing from you all!


End file.
